


Miracles and Magic

by Savageseraph



Category: Midnight Texas (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-16 11:14:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13052880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Savageseraph/pseuds/Savageseraph
Summary: There are a lot of things Fiji isn’t certain of, but this isn’t one of them.





	Miracles and Magic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cathedralhearts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cathedralhearts/gifts).



Monsters and Magic

Fiji woke with a start, sweat dripping from her body, the phantom scent of charred flesh still lingering as the nightmare faded. This time, Jeremy’s flesh had cooked enough to fall away from the bone, leaving a bloody skull grinning up at her as she rode him, powerless to stop, powerless to save him from the magic savaging his body. Strung tight with horror, Fiji curled in on herself and muffled sobbing breaths against her pillow before they could wake Aunt Mildred. 

Tears traced icy trails down her cheeks. _I’m so sorry, Jeremy. I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean to._

Mildred told her the memory would tatter and fray, the dreams would lose their power to haunt her sleep, and Fiji wanted to believe her. She wanted it more fiercely than she ever wanted Jeremy, and the guilt that kindled was a dagger twisting inside her. Fiji loved the way he made her feel, but she never loved him. Maybe if she had, he would still be alive. Jeremy made her feel beautiful and strong, and she craved him because when they were together, she wasn’t a troubled kid, a mental case. She wasn’t a monster. 

Being a monster was dangerous. But forgetting you’re a monster was even worse. It got other people killed.

###

Tendrils of honeysuckle climbed the trellis Fiji propped up in the corner of Mildred’s greenhouse. Coaxing seeds to life brought her peace. Each shoot that twined upward, each leaf that unfurled, each bud that ripened into a nodding blossom felt like an act of atonement. It trained her power, it taught her control. It drew her talents to creating and nurturing. She touched a waxy white petal with the tip of one finger and smiled.

“Your heart shapes your intention and your magic, Fiji, and your heart is drawn to love.” Mildred cupped Fiji’s cheeks in her hands and kissed her gently on the forehead. “Never forget that. And never doubt it.” 

Aunt Mildred’s words became a mantra Fiji wrapped herself in, one that warmed and comforted her like one of her aunt’s afghans. The longer she lived in Midnight, the more she learned to master her emotions and her past. She learned strength from Olivia, restraint from Lem. Joe taught her devotion, and Chuy taught her how to smile again. The Rev became her living reminder that unleashing what churns inside only brings destruction. Fiji’s rebellion and resentment mellowed into compassion and calm. For the first time in her life, she had people who accepted her as she was. For the first time, she had a family.

For the first time, Fiji felt like she truly _belonged_.

###

Mildred’s cough started during the hottest week of a July that left Midnighters feeling snappish and wrung out from the heat. She brewed honeyed teas laced with ginseng and St. John’s wort and ate slices of pineapple, chilled to freezing. The cough faded, for a time, then returned stronger than before. When Mildred turned from her talents and sent Fiji to the pharmacy for over-the-counter medicine, Fiji started to worry, but she didn’t realize how serious things were until she saw the blood on Mildred’s handkerchief after a coughing fit left her gasping for breath.

“ _No._ ” Mildred’s voice was surprisingly steady. Her hold on Fiji’s wrist was strong as she kept her from reaching for the phone to call for an ambulance. “Magic can’t fix everything, child. And neither can medicine.” She smiled, and no sorrow or regret stained it. “We all go back to the earth one day. I intend to enjoy what time I have left clear-headed and among people who love me.”

Stubbornness ran in their family. Fiji knew this, but she only discovered how deeply as she tried badgering, then bullying, then finally pleading with her aunt to go to the doctor if she wouldn’t go to the hospital. But her aunt was a rock, standing unyielding in the face of a strong wind. When Mildred was finally napping on the couch, Fiji slipped outside with her phone.

“She’ll be mighty pissed if you do that.”

Fiji started as Mr. Snuggly slunk out of the shadows, jumped up on the porch rail, and fixed his silvery green eyes on her. She ignored him, powered the phone on.

“If you do it, at least be honest. You’re doing it because you think it’s what’s best for you. Not because it’s best for her.”

With a swish of his tail, Mr. Snuggly jumped off the rail into the yard and disappeared into the night. Fiji sank onto the porch swing, wrapped her arms around herself and cried until her eyes felt like stones and the skin on her cheeks felt warm, the skin stretched too tightly over bone. She put the phone back in her pocket and went back into the house.

Fiji started making her aunt philtars for the cough and congestion and pain. She mixed powders that tamp down Mildred’s fevers and strengthen the frame growing increasingly fragile. The whole house smelled of Mildred’s favorite meals until the morning Fiji went to wake her and found that she gone.

“She went peaceful. Just stepped from the little sleep to the big one.” Mr. Snuggley curled up at Mildred’s side. “She was a good woman. She deserved that.”

At that moment, Fiji hated the cat. She hated the finality of his words, of this moment. More than that, she was afraid, deeply afraid of being alone. Afraid there would be no one to say those words over her when her time had come.

###

After Mildred died, Fiji shuttered up The Inquiring Mind and locked herself away with her grief and a sour, disapproving cat. Only Olivia and Joe intruded on her self-imposed exile, and she was grateful neither coaxed her to come out with them. As supportive as her friends were, it was Lem who finally coaxed her out. He told her there was a new guy in town. Bobo wanted to stay in town, and Lem was considering letting him run the pawn shop and put down roots in Midnight. He covered her hand with one of his and told her he needed her help to decide. If Mildred were still here, Lem would be talking to her, but Mildred was gone. And Midnight needed her witch.

That afternoon, Fiji baked a tray of sand tart cookies, weaving in the magic that would show if Bobo bore ill will toward Midnight or any of its people. She fixed a smile on her face as she walked into the pawn shop. Lem told her that Bobo seemed like a nice enough guy. What he didn’t mention was Bobo’s easy smile that brought out his dimples and crinkled the corners of his blue eyes. Fiji wasn’t prepared for that or for the flutter of something stirring eagerly inside her when Bobo told her he would have moved to Midnight sooner if he knew the welcome committee was so pretty.

When he raised a cookie shaped like a star to his mouth, Fiji hoped he wouldn’t be snared by its magic. His eyes closed, his brow furrowed, and Fiji’s heart sank. Then Bobo’s eyes snapped open, and he licked the crumbs from his lips. He declared the cookies the best he’d ever had, and that included his gramma’s cookies. Three more cookies disappeared in short order before Bobo stiffened, swallowed hard, and asked if the cookies were only for newcomers. 

Fiji laughed softly and told him she was sure they could work something out. Bobo smiled, touched her hand as he said he’d like that. Fiji ducked her head as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She had a feeling she was going to like that too.

###

Weeks became months, and Bobo became a part of the fabric of Midnight and of Fiji’s life. She baked him more cookies, and he took her to Home Cookin’ for Madonna’s cheeseburgers and hand-spun shakes. When Olivia was out of town, Margarita Monday’s become Movie Mondays with Bobo where they would share a huge bowl of popcorn as Mr. Snuggley glared at them disapprovingly. Not that cat approved of her or any of her friends, and Bobo was a friend.

 _A good friend._ If some nights Fiji stretched out in her giant claw-footed tub and touched herself while she imagined them being much more than just friendly, no one needed to know about it. Least of all Bobo.

Fiji thought her feelings for Bobo were her secret, until Chuy asked her when she’s going to ask Bobo out. She didn’t even think before telling him things weren’t like that between them. That she and Bobo were just friends. She told herself that enough that she should believe it by now, but somehow she never quite managed it.

“Love is worth fighting for.” Chuy’s gaze wandered to Joe, who was leaning over a pool table, just about to take a shot in a game with Bobo. “It’s the only thing worth fighting for.”

There was such a sense of stillness around him, Fiji swore Home Cookin’ grew quieter, held its breath, and Fiji knew that she wanted to feel what they felt for each other. Chuy was right: Bobo was worth fighting for. When Joe missed his shot, Bobo glanced up from the game, caught Fiji’s eye, and winked. That was the moment Fiji promised herself she would fight for him.

The next day, Aubrey came to town.

###

Aubrey was everything Fiji wasn’t. She was bold but not arrogant, brash, but not coarse. She tossed her head and hair when she laughed, swayed when she walked so that even Fiji’s gaze lingered on her hips. Along with the gaze of just about every other person in Home Cookin’. Olivia frowned at Aubrey, watching her with narrowed eyes as her hand covered Lem’s possessively.

Home Cookin’ was crowded, but out of all the men in the place, Aubrey struck up a conversation with Bobo, and Fiji felt a pang she tried to ignore as she saw them laughing, saw him buy Aubrey a coffee and a slice of Madonna’s famous peach pie. Bobo was the one who pulled Aubrey into the community of Midnighters, who made a home for her, who asked her marry him. And Fiji told herself it was for the best. Bobo deserved someone who didn’t have dark secrets. Someone who hadn’t hurt people she loved. 

She told Bobo and Aubrey she was happy for them and gave them each a hug as she ignored Chuy’s frown. Why wouldn’t she be happy? Friends were supposed to feel that way when their friends got engaged. Fiji’s smile never slipped even as she wondered if she told herself that often enough, she would start to believe it.

###

When Aubrey went missing, Fiji honestly expected her to turn up with a story to tell. Aubrey would hold court in Home Cookin’ as everyone hung on each word. She’d make running out of gas or her car overheating sound like some grand adventure, and they’d all laugh about it, and life in Midnight would go back to normal. When Fiji told Bobo that, his smile made a shiver of pleasure run through her

“You shouldn’t give him false hope.” Olivia told her after Bobo went back to the pawn shop. “She came without an invitation and left without a good-bye. Probably got bored and went back to wherever she came from.”

Fiji supposed Olivia could be right, she didn’t really believe her. Who would leave Midnight and leave Bobo behind? She kept believing until the day it came true. Until the day the river brought Aubrey’s body back to Midnight.

###

Comforting Bobo was a test of Fiji’s control. Each time she touched his shoulder, she wanted to run her fingers down his arm. Each time she hugged him, she wanted to turn her face so she could kiss the warm skin of his neck. She didn’t do those things. When Bobo cursed Aubrey for her secrets, for using him, Fiji didn’t let a word of condemnation pass her lips. Bobo needed to find his own way through his grief without her guidance if she ever had a chance of him finding her on the other side.

Waiting had never been one of Fiji’s strengths, and she wanted to be found so badly that it was hard to keep up the pretense. She grew more hesitant with Bobo, afraid she was going to slip and give herself away. Then the Sons of Lucifer took her and she discovered she wasn’t the only with secrets, dark secrets that got other people killed. Fiji was angry at herself for loving a man who never really existed and for not being able to stop loving him now that she knows. 

She was angry at Bobo, too, for not letting her go, for kissing her and telling her he would protect her and keep the monsters away. For telling her he loved her.

###

Running from Midnight was the hardest thing Fiji had ever done. Her store, her house, her aunt’s grave, all swallowed by the storm Colcomar conjured as he tore at the veil between their world and his. Unlike Lot’s wife, Fiji looked back on her town, watched the sandstorm consume her home, and knew none of her charms or spells could push back the creeping dark. She was too afraid to insist they stay, too angry to embrace the thought of running.

It was Manfred who stopped them, Manfred who believed they could find a way to drive Colcomar back and save Midnight. He begged her to help, to summon the spirits they need to tell them how Colcomar can be defeated. Blood magic scared Fiji, but not as failing her friends or unleashing Hell on the rest of the world. Her friends believed in her, so she needed to believe in herself.

When the spell took Manfred, when he fell, Fiji shook her head, desperate to deny those sightless eyes staring up at her. _Not again. Oh, sweet goddess, not again._ She stumbled back as the others rush in to help, but Fiji knew it was too late for Manfred. Too late for them all. She also knew what she had to do to make things right. 

While everyone was distracted, Fiji slipped out into the storm that tugged at her hair and clothes. The monster with Jeremy’s face stepped out of the shadows and held his hand out to her to lead her home, and Fiji took it.

###

Fiji walks though her house for the last time, saying her good-byes to the mementos and markers of her life. The more she tries to let go, the more she wants to hold on tight and never let go. They say people who are closest to death want to live more fiercely than they do at any other time, and Fiji is no different.

“You know you’re overthinking this, right?” 

Fiji whirls at the sound of Bobo’s voice. His smile is the same gentle one Fiji fell in love with years ago. His arms slide around her, tug her to him, and as even though she knows she shouldn’t, she leans into the warmth of his body, the comfort of his embrace. Suddenly, Fiji can’t imagine walking into the night and letting her power tear her apart. Standing in Bobo’s arms with all the stubborn greenhouse plants crowded around them, all she wants to do is live.

“He wants a virgin witch.” Bobo’s lips brush her cheek. “Isn’t that what you said?”

That soft, fleeting touch banishes the shadows that have been clinging to Fiji. She swallows hard around the lump in her throat and nods.

“You know there’s an easy way to fix that?”

Fiji’s eyes snap open, her body stiffens as she pushes at Bobo’s hold on her. Visions of Jeremy and Manfred staring at her with dead, accusing eyes make her shudder. She can’t do this. She can’t. She won’t risk anyone else dying. Especially not Bobo.

Bobo’s arms tighten around her. “I’m not gonna let you die, Fij. I love you.”

Something in Fiji breaks at those words, and she starts to cry. For Bobo and for herself. She loves him too and finally tells him she’s dreamed of this more times than she can count and woken from a sweet sleep with her whole body aching for his touch. She finally tells him she loves him, has loved him, will always love him.

Bobo cups her cheek, turning her face back towards him. “Manfred has this.” When her eyes widen, he nods. “He’s fine. He got his answers. He can stop this.” He rests his forehead against hers. “Please stay with me. I need you, Fij.”

Fiji needs him too. She has for years. Even before she let herself realize it and accept it as more than just a passing fantasy about an overly attractive and funny and kind friend. 

“I’m not afraid. I know you won’t hurt me.” He sounds so sure, and she can see from his easy smile, he believes it. His hand trails down the side of her neck, fingers curling around the back of it as he leans in to kiss her. Bobo’s kiss is all soft, teasing swipes of tongue, slow and sweet and lazy. It’s the sort of kiss lovers share when they are twined together and feel like they have all the time in the world. Deep inside, Fiji feels caution shatter, and her fingers tangle in Bobo’s hair as she arching against his body as she kisses. 

_I love this man. I **deserve** him._

Clothes begin to fall away as Fiji tips her head back, tilting her face toward the moonlight as Bobo’s mouth kindles liquid fire wherever it brushes her skin. She swallows a soft cry as his fingers slide up her skirt, slip between her legs to stroke her. Fiji feels her power rise in her as his fingers keep working their own magic, and when she comes, it pours out of her, causing a riot of growth in the plants around them. Creeping vines card through Bobo’s hair, skitter down his back as he struggles to undo his pants, push them and his underwear aside. Marigolds blossom in her hair in small explosions of tangerine fire.

Bobo traces her jaw with trembling fingers. “You are magic, Fij. You’re so beautiful.” He strokes the inside of her thigh as he nudges against her. “Tell me you’re sure.”

There are a lot of things Fiji isn’t certain of, but this isn’t one of them. Bobo isn’t one of them. She doesn’t know if there will be a tomorrow for them, if Manfred will save Midnight. She doesn’t know if Creek will have gotten Olivia to a hospital in time to save her. She doesn’t know if there will be a dawn or if any of them will be around to see it. 

But Fiji believes in this. She believes in Bobo. 

She believes in love.


End file.
